Man Killed by Cellphone Explosion

A man in China died when his cellphone exploded, severing a major artery in his neck, according to a Chinese daily newspaper.

The man’s identity was not disclosed, but Shin Min Daily News reported he was an employee at a computer shop in Guangzhou, China, where the incident occurred.

Another employee at the shop said she heard a loud bang and then saw her co-worker lying on the shop floor in a pool of blood. She said the victim recently replaced the battery in his cellphone.

Chinese authorities are investigating the death and have yet to determine the model of the victim’s phone and battery, as well as whether they were counterfeit products.

In an eerily similar incident in July 2007, 22-year-old Xiao Jinpeng of Gansu, China died from chest wounds after his cellphone exploded in his chest pocket. The incident occurred at his workplace, an iron mill. The Chinese government speculated the phone’s battery exploded in reaction to the heat in the mill.

China has been under scrutiny for a number of years for exporting cheaply made products that pose safety risks. In July 2008, the BBC reported that hundreds of thousands of potentially electrocuting phone chargers were making their way from China into the UK. Some of the chargers were generically labeled "Travel Charger."